Indian child gets Spanish mother as court gives nod

A Spanish woman has been allowed by a Delhi court to adopt a five-year-old boy who was found abandoned at a railway station here.
The court said it would be in the interest of the minor boy's welfare that he be given into adoption to the Barcelona- based woman as she has undertaken to look after him in the best possible manner.
District Judge Anu Malhotra allowed the petition of SOS Children's Village of India, a charitable society, seeking that the minor be given in adoption to 46-year-old Natalia Folch Molero and she be allowed to take the child to Spain.

"Taking into account fitness of respondent (Molero) and the factum that the child is still below the age of five years and it would be appropriate that an expeditious adoption is permitted so that he integrates into his new family, it is considered appropriate to allow the petition and the minor child is allowed to be given in adoption to respondent with directions to the respondent to comply with," the court said.
It said the available record indicated that "it would be expedient and proper and in the interest of welfare of the minor child that he is given into adoption to the respondent as she was desirous of adopting a child and undertakes to look after the child to the best of her ability."

The organisation, which has been recognised by Ministry of Women and Child Development's Central Adoption Resource Authority for placing children in adoption, submitted before the court that the woman was keen to adopt the child, whom she had met and spent some time.

The petition said the boy, born in January 2011, was found abandoned at the Old Delhi railway station here in May 2012 and police officials had handed him over to the SOS Children's Village as nobody came to claim the child's custody. The boy was later declared as abandoned and free for adoption.
It was submitted that the woman was an unmarried Spanish national who wanted to adopt the child as her son to complete her family. She said she was employed as an instructor with a company in Barcelona and her annual income was Euro 11,200 which was sufficient for bringing up the boy.

The court, while allowing the adoption, imposed several conditions and directed her to execute a personal bond of Rs 10 lakh and she should take care of the minor, educate him and bring him to India before the court as and when required.
The court noted the society's official deposed before it that when the woman met the child, he was comfortable with her and as the child has a speaking problem, she was able to understand him.